ER visit times: Here’s how long patients spend in emergency rooms in each state

Data released this summer from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) indicated the average emergency room (ER) visit times for each of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Patients in Washington, D.C. had the longest average visit — at 5 hours and 29 minutes.

The shortest median visit was in North Dakota, where patients spent an average of 1 hour and 48 minutes in the ER.

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The data came from the CMS “Timely and Effective Care” measurements, collected between October 2021 and September 2022.

They were released on July 26.

The numbers included visits of children and adults whose care was covered by Medicare’s Inpatient Prospective Payment System or Outpatient Prospective Payment System.

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Also included were visits from hospitals that chose to report visit information for Medicare patients, Medicare managed care patients and non-Medicare patients. 

Below are the average visit times by state, from shortest to longest, as compiled by Becker’s Hospital Review:

1. North Dakota — 1 hour and 48 minutes
2. Nebraska — 1 hour and 55 minutes
3. South Dakota — 1 hour and 55 minutes
4. Hawaii — 1 hour and 56 minutes
5. Iowa — 1 hour and 59 minutes
6. Oklahoma — 1 hour and 59 minutes
7. Kansas — 2 hours and 4 minutes
8. Montana — 2 hours and 7 minutes
9. Mississippi — 2 hours and 9 minutes
10. Idaho — 2 hours and 12 minutes
11. Louisiana — 2 hours and 12 minutes
12. Arkansas — 2 hours and 14 minutes
13. Minnesota — 2 hours and 14 minutes
14. Wyoming — 2 hours and 15 minutes
15. Utah — 2 hours and 17 minutes
16. Indiana — 2 hours and 18 minutes
17. Colorado — 2 hours and 21 minutes
18. Alaska — 2 hours and 23 minutes
19. Kentucky — 2 hours and 23 minutes
20. Texas — 2 hours and 24 minutes
21. Alabama — 2 hours and 25 minutes
22. Wisconsin — 2 hours and 26 minutes
23. Nevada — 2 hours and 27 minutes
24. Washington — 2 hours and 27 minutes
25. West Virginia — 2 hours and 33 minutes
26. Missouri — 2 hours and 35 minutes
27. Georgia — 2 hours and 37 minutes
28. Ohio — 2 hours and 37 minutes
29. Tennessee — 2 hours and 40 minutes
30. Florida — 2 hours and 44 minutes
31. New Hampshire — 2 hours and 44 minutes
32. Maine — 2 hours and 45 minutes
33. New Mexico — 2 hours and 46 minutes
34. South Carolina — 2 hours and 48 minutes
35. Oregon — 2 hours and 51 minutes
36. Michigan — 2 hours and 52 minutes
37. Virginia — 2 hours and 52 minutes
38. Illinois — 2 hours and 54 minutes
39. North Carolina — 2 hours and 54 minutes
40. Vermont — 2 hours and 58 minutes
41. California — 3 hours
42. Pennsylvania — 3 hours
43. Connecticut — 3 hours and 2 minutes
44. New Jersey — 3 hours and 11 minutes
45. Arizona — 3 hours and 13 minutes
46. New York — 3 hours and 21 minutes
47. Delaware — 3 hours and 30 minutes
48. Massachusetts — 3 hours and 33 minutes
49. Rhode Island — 3 hours and 34 minutes
50. Maryland — 4 hours and 2 minutes
51. District of Columbia — 5 hours and 29 minutes

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Median visit times have been on the rise amid staffing shortages and an increase in patient volume.

The average visit time nationwide is 160 minutes, up from 155 minutes as of September 2021 and 143 minutes in 2020, per CMS data.

Between 2011 and 2021, emergency department visits among patients less than 65 years old that were paid by Medicaid rose from 34% to 45.3%, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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